ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

The idea for this very special recording started with Fayen’s reoccurring dream of Daniel playing the piano. Fayen, a friend and admirer of Daniel’s music, realized that there was no released CD of Daniel playing the piano and she offered to help produce one. Daniel and Federico had talked in the past about involving William in one of their projects and decided to invite him to play on this recording. The recording session with these three musicians resulted in so much wonderful material that at least two separate volumes will eventually be released. William Parker said of the recording after first listening to it that, “it could be an epic.”

This release is particularly notable, not only for the fact that it is the first CD of Daniel Carter playing piano, but also because Daniel has been more involved in the editing and production process than ever before.

As Steve Greenlee of the Boston Globe stated in July 2002, “William Parker has emerged as the most important leader of the current avant-garde scene in jazz.” He is working in many of the more important groups in this genre, some of the most prestigious being his own, i.e. The Curtis Mayfield Project, Little Huey Creative Orchestra, In Order to Survive, William Parker’s Quartet and other groups. Mr. Parker is one of the most important composers in our time period.

In ‘95 the Village Voice characterized William Parker as "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time." However from the beginning of his career Mr. Parker has commanded a unique degree of respect from fellow musicians. In 1972 at the age of 20, Parker quickly became the bass player of choice among his peers. Within a short time he was asked to play with older, established musicians such as Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Bill Dixon, Milford Graves, Billy Higgins, Sunny Murray, etc. In 1980 he became a member of the Cecil Taylor Unit, in which he played a prominent role for over a decade.

Mr. Parker has released over 20 albums under his leadership. Not surprisingly, most of his albums have hit #1 on the CMJ charts.

These releases and their success highlight William Parker as an outstanding composer and band leader. From the beginning of his musical career, William Parker has been prolific; composing music for almost every group with whom he has performed. His compositional skills span a range including operas, oratorios, ballets, film scores, and soliloquies for solo instruments. He has also successfully explored diverse concepts in instrumentation for large and small ensembles. William Parker is a poet, with three volumes published thus far: “Music Is,” “Document Humanum,” and “The Shadow People.”

“He (William Parker) is something of a father figure” stated Larry Blumenfeld in a New York Times article this past May. He has looked for and encouraged young talent and has been a mentor to some of the younger musicians. Most importantly, for Mr. Parker has been the workshops/ performances for young people that he has conducted, both in the USA and in Europe. This has been for him amongst some of his most important work and greatest successes.”

In early 2001 Federico Ughi established 577 Records in Brooklyn, New York as an independent record label, through which he promotes his own work, as well as that of selected artists who particularly inspire his artistic vision.

This remarkable achievement should be required listening for those in search of

The Dream features the first recorded example of multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter playing piano. While this revelation is impressive enough, the album itself is a fascinating and endlessly rewarding listen. Ably accompanied by bassist William Parker and drummer Federico Ughi, Carter demonstrates remarkable facility on a half-dozen different instruments in settings ranging from sober to tumultuous.

Opening the album with “This Is the Dream” Carter reveals a piano technique reminiscent of fellow avant gardists Cecil Taylor, Dave Burrell and Don Pullen. His turn at the keyboard emphasizes rousing pointillistic urgency and methodical development. His kinetic, hyper-linear attack is underscored by the rhythm section's relentless, throttling undercurrent.

Equally intriguing is the presence of bassist William Parker playing tuba on a number of tunes. On the blistering “The Truth in the Core,” Parker stutters out dense, brassy pedal tones while Ughi whips up a stirring, percussive frenzy. Carter wails away on his brusque tenor, heaving split tones with abandon. “Notorious” features the same instrumentation, this time a sumptuous swinger, with Parker blurting out walking patterns as Ughi provides casual swing that Carter uses to spin melodious variations on his tenor sax. The piece concludes in a genteel conversation between tenor and tuba.

“Life Beyond Death” proves the most unique combination. Carter's pneumatic piano duels with Parker's expressive, breathy tuba. Ughi drives the two with a lumbering, fractious rhythm, intensifying it as the piece progresses until it explodes in a maelstrom of loping, circuitous piano refrains and blustery tuba incantations.

But Parker doesn't abandon his main instrument completely. He generates considerable heat on “The Traditionalist!,” a solo exploration of the expressive qualities of the bowed bass. Likewise, Ughi summons an energy level similar to Rashied Ali's infamous performance on Coltrane's Interstellar Space on “6 1/2 Billion.” Parker spawns a pulverizing flurry of notes on his upright to keep pace, while Carter spirals out taut alto phrases of biting intensity.

A number of these pieces fade in and out, obviously edited down from longer excursions. The abrupt edits are the only downside to the album, but they indicate that a second volume may not be far behind.

With an exceptionally high level of group interaction and a judicious combination of lengthy improvisations and short interludes, The Dream is a marvelously diverse representation of these three musicians' multifarious talents. This remarkable achievement should be required listening for those in search of inventive free improvisation.

577 Records is putting out some of the most interesting improvised music today, and The Dream is yet another high quality offering. Featuring the trio of Daniel Carter, William Parker and Federico Ughi, the CD is an embarrassment of riches, bursting with music of great imagination played with the highest skill and intention.

Carter and Parker are mainstays of improvised music, and Carter is one of the most important instrumentalists on the avant garde scene. It hardly seems possible for one person to excel on so many instruments, yet Carter does so with ease - an ease that comes only from decades of hard work. The Dream includes the rare treat of Carter playing piano, and he shines particularly on This is the Dream; his playing is forceful and crystalline, his runs intricate and rollicking, with Parker and Ughi matching him every step of the way.

Other notable songs include Little Did I Know, where Carter starts with a gentle flute, then gradually turns up the heat and at the very end switches to sax, his tone clear as a bell. The Truth in the Core, which features Parker on tuba and Carter's wild, wailing sax, is also memorable. On the lovely Spiritual Awakening, Carter plays trumpet, invoking Miles at first and then developing his own urgent message, complimented by Ughis rhythmic stickwork.

The Dream has a wonderful cohesiveness, and its the kind of CD that gets into your bones the more you listen. The fourteen pieces vary in length, several barely grazing two minutes, but they roll effortlessly one after another, shifting instruments and colors with absolutely no loss of fluidity. The result is a pleasing quilt of sounds, textures and moods that's well worth exploring.

Group interaction is fantastic throughout, without a weak combination in evidenc

The Dream
Daniel Carter / William Parker / Federico Ughi
577 Records
by Marc Medwin – All About Jazz New York, April 2006

That’s right, Carter plays piano on this date! It’s the first thing heard as this disc kicks immediately into definite but mature overdrive. It’s a blast to hear William Parker, bassist for Cecil Taylor’s much-lauded Feel Trio, free-walking under Carter’s percussive attacks, certainly indebted to Taylor but even more pointalistic. The case is made on “Zero Softly”, a spare minimalist musing where notes hang in the air like galaxies only to fade beneath Federico Ughi’s carpet of brushwork. Indeed many of the tracks fade in and out, more like dreams in that conclusion are uncertain, if they exist at all.

The program is astonishing in its breath and scope and this trio keeps each tracks fresh throughout with sudden instrument switches. Check out “Notorious”, with its proto-swing suddenly slowing down as Parker jumps from bass to tuba, sliding effortlessly into the dialogue.
Group interaction is fantastic throughout, without a weak combination in evidence here. It’s especially nice to hear Ughi is a more traditional context, combining the timbral savvy of Tony Oxley with the controlled power of Rashied Ali. The assumption is that the pieces were taken from larger improvisations and word is that there will be a second volume issued from this session. If it is equally edited and programmed, it will certainly be worth the wait!

Federico Ughi ... He just might be downtown's best under-recognized jazz drummer

DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY
NEW YORK - NEWSLETTER FOR APRIL 7TH, 2006

I caught Italian-born, downtown-based drummer, Federico Ughi, play in two sets at the Stone last Saturday (4/1/06) and I must admit that he really knocked me out at both sets. He just might be downtown's best under-recognized jazz drummer at present. The first set featured his new trio with Daniel Carter and William Parker, check out their fantastic new disc on 577 Records. On the second set, they added Eri Yamamoto on piano & Anders Nilsson on guitar and they sounded quite a bit like early 70's Miles electric records.

Session Expiration Warning

Session Expiration

We need to talk.

The web browser you're using to surf the web is so old it’s embarrassing. But hey, we hope you consider us a friend, the kind of friend you can count on to tell you when there's spinach stuck between your teeth. So here it goes: every time you surf the web with that antiquated web browser it’s like you have spinach in your teeth. Every time you get online, spinach!

Look, we don't want you to be the butt of any more jokes when the sites you visit don't load or function properly. So please - for your own sake - click on one of the links for your preferred browser below, and get that spinach out of your teeth for good.